Consequences
by Leizu
Summary: Fred goes in search of the mysterious yellow-eyes he was created to fight and finds more than he bargained for...
1. Open My Eyes

_**POLICE FINALLY ARREST "THE VAMPIRE KILLER"**_

**OVER a year after the rampant murders that terrorised the city of Seattle, the most prolific serial killer in history has finally been arrested. After a tip off from a former neighbour, Jonathan Thody was arrested for a total of four hundred and sixty seven murders, for almost two hundred of which the police have yet to locate bodies. According to a police spokesperson, Thody refuses to give the location of the missing people, continually protesting his innocence. The residents of Seattle can rest easy in their beds for the first time, knowing now that the killer is behind bars. It will be only small consolation for the family and friends of the victims still missing. We can only hope he will break his silence soon so that they can find closure.  
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**_"VAMPIRE KILLER" ALSO SEX TRAFFICKER_**

**IT has emerged today that Jonathan Thody, the so-called "vampire killer" who recently terrorised Seattle with the murders of over four hundred people, may also have used some of those he abducted for his sex trafficking ring. His former partner in crime, neighbour Jamie McLeod, said that while he had no idea that Thody was capable of murder, he "looked the other way" when some of the women he took for their use disappeared. He said that Thody told him "not to worry", but he couldn't keep his silence any longer when he found packs of blood in Thody's apartment. Thody's trial starts next week, with the eyes of the world watching.**

**Police had suspected the then-unknown "vampire killer" to be abducting some people to be killed later when the daughter of police officer Reed Stirling, 17-year-old Jemma Stirling, was spotted two days after her disappearance. Her whereabouts are still unknown.  
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_**THODY FOUND GUILTY- "VAMPIRE KILLER" GETS TWO HUNDRED AND SIX LIFE SENTENCES**_

**The largest manhunt and police investigation ever to take place has finally reached its end today when 38-year-old Jonathan Thody was found guilty of a two hundred and five murders. He was also found guilty of operating a sex trafficking ring out of his neighbour's apartment. Thody could not be charged for the murders where no body had been found, and he was not found guilty for a further sixty-nine**** due to a lack of evidence. A spokesperson for the police gave a short but emotional statement, saying that "his capture show[ed] the dedication of the Seattle Police Department, and all their hard work had finally paid off. Seattle residents can finally sleep soundly knowing that the whole ordeal is over." Reed Stirling had no comment to make, other than that police would endeavour to find the missing victims, which includes his daughter Jemma. Thody was found guilty of the murder of Reed's wife of over twenty-five years, Ciara**_**.**_

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Reed scanned the newspaper clippings again, satisfied with his work. He couldn't bring himself to be pleased, not when Jemma was still missing. He'd found peace with the death of his wife after Thody had been arrested and charged, but he wouldn't rest until he paid for Jemma's death. He smirked a little, remembering that his boss had wanted to take him off the case once it emerged that his wife and daughter were among the victims- well, he showed him. Reed had been a little worried at the thin evidence against Thody, but McLeod's testimony had made their whole case. Reed knew that McLeod had been the one running the ring, and that it was highly unlikely that Thody had anything to do with that side, but any more jail time could only be a good thing. McLeod was out now, having traded his testimony in exchange for immunity from prosecution. One more scumbag on the streets of Seattle. Well, anything but the hell they'd been through that time a year ago. So some illegal immigrants get used? Reed didn't care anymore. He'd stopped caring about that after he lost his family in one night. Suddenly, the phone rang. Slowly, he went over to it, reading that it was work calling.

"Yeah?"

"Reed? You'd better sit down." Reed did as he was told, his heart thumping noticeably in his chest. Was this it? Had they found Jemma?

"What is it?" He wanted to bombard them with questions, the seconds he waited were agonising.

"You'd better come in. Thody's escaped." Reed closed his eyes to stop the tears from falling. Breathing to steady himself, he managed to respond.

"How?" he asked simply.

"Well...we have no idea."

"How can you have _no idea?_ He was in a _maximum security prison_ surrounded by guards armed to the teeth! There are security cameras watching people shit for fuck's sake!" He slammed his fist into the table as he swore, his anger getting beyond words.

"Reed...you need to come in. When you see it, it'll make sense. Well, as much sense as it ever will, anyway. Can you calm the fuck down enough to drive or do I have to send someone to come get you?" Reed tried to calm himself, breathing heavily, then realised it couldn't be done.

"I need a lift. And a coffee. Black."

"Done and done. Anderson's outside, she'll take you to get coffee. You're gonna need it, we're all in for a pile of shit in the morning."

* * *

"Play the tape again." The technicians groaned in unison and pushed themselves up from where they were half-laid on their desks. The one who'd fetched him looked at him.

"Reed, you are not going to see anything this time around. I know this defies explanation, but-"

"Play the fucking tape again!"

"Don't you swear at me, Reed! I know that you're stressed about this, but don't you think we all are? The best CCTV cameras in the whole damn world have given us a picture of a swirling black shadow we can't even focus on defying science and blasting its way through the best secutiry system in existence faster than physically possible while making almost no noise. Give. It. Up. We are NEVER going to explain this, no matter how many times we watch the tape!"

Reed opened his mouth to argue with her, then closed it again as defeat hit him. Feeling pity for him, Miranda reached her arm out to stroke his gently. He realised he wasn't being fair to them as he looked back at the tape, seeing and not seeing the paused back shadowy cloud. The technicians couldn't seem to persuade the computers to zoom in on it, it just zoomed around the image. They were just as frustrated as he, probably more so, as their bafflement could cause them to lose their jobs.

He gave a slight smile, excusing himself. On his way to fetch more coffee, he panicked about what he was going to say to the media. What could he say? Usually the truth was enough, but he knew that the truth would be far from enough this time.

* * *

Fred was watching the news intently in one of Riley's old hideouts. Jonathan Thody, the man wrongly accused and convicted of the murders in Seattle, was asleep on the sofa a little ways across the room. Fred watched him with pity. He ended up being held responsible for deaths that he and the others had caused- he was even found guilty of Fred's murder, and Bree's and Riley's, too. He clearly hadn't done anything wrong. The sex trafficking part was also clearly false- Fred found McLeod to find out if it was true. If it had been, he'd have left Thody in prison. McLeod had laughed, at first. Thody had been his ticket out of jail- that police officer that lost his wife and daughter had asked about Thody and McLeod saw his way out. He'd never even talked to Thody, save for when he'd said if McLeod even looked at a member of his family he'd kill him. That had pissed him off, he really liked how Thody's daughter Tammy looked. McLeod had laughed when he'd told Fred. He'd said she "moved like a slut". With Thody out of the picture he'd gone after her. Apparently she was particularly popular with one of his regulars- it was that "youthful energy" she'd had at the beginning. When McLeod had said that now he was bored of her, that decided his fate. Fred killed him for what he'd done. He managed to save the girls he'd got locked up in his apartment- including Tammy. When he found her, he wanted to bring McLeod back so he could kill him again, but much slower this time.

Tammy was eight years old. He'd taken her to the hospital, and they'd told him she'd be OK, but he doubted that. She'd grow up thinking her father was a murderer, with those ordeals in her past. Fred watched Thody while the news waited for the police press conference to start. How could he tell him what happened? It'd be bad enough he could never see his family again, let alone that McLeod had fulfilled his threat on his daughter.

He needed to do something for this man. He'd give him a new life, somewhere else. He'd have to change his face, though, as there was nowhere in the world he could go without being recognised. Fred had toyed with the idea of making him a vampire like himself, but decided against it. From what he knew of this life, it would be a long one. There could be no punishment worse than a long life for Thody.

Reed Stirling came out of a door and walked briskly and nervously up to the microphone. Fred smirked. 'This should be interesting', he thought. Reed spoke quickly, clearly not wanting to linger.

"As you are already aware, the convicted serial killer Jonathan Thody escaped from ADX Florence prison in Colorado last night. Police forces across the United States are doing their utmost to re-locate Thody and get him back behind bars as soon as possible. He escaped with the help of an accompice. An investigation into how he achieved this is underway and ongoing. No questions will be taken at this time." Less than a second after he'd finished, Stirling turned on his heel and walked out, ignoring the flood of angry questions being fired at him and the repeated flashes of press cameras.

Fred sighed. He almost pitied Stirling. Almost. Yes, it was terrible that he lost his wife and daughter. More terrible that he'd lost his daughter- Fred liked her. Her mother died as food, but Riley had turned Jemma. She was lovely, and very, very afraid. He'd liked Bree, too, but he'd developed a real friendship with Jemma. The only reason he wouldn't let Bree in until near the end was because he'd lost Jemma. Almost nobody who'd been around when Jemma was ended up going to the battle.

Reed had launched a huge manhunt for his daughter after she was seen in a hunting party. Riley had noticed the flyers when hunting, and decided she was a liability. She was too high profile. He'd told her this before he killed her. That was when he set the rule about only taking street urchins instead of regular people. He himself had been at university, but he couldn't remember his major. He lost a lot in the searing pain of transformation.

Fred stood, switching off the television. He left a note for Thody using a page from one of Bree's old books. He'd decided it had been long enough- he was going to go in search of these mysterious Cullens.


	2. Unchained Melody

Fred stood in a large, empty field, looking around himself. There was a large patch of scorched earth in the middle, and he wondered who had been burnt. Clearly it had not been the mysterious yellow-eyes, as Seattle had been empty of vampires for a while, and he found himself wondering if any of his intended comrades had survived. Having not emerged victorious, Seattle had gone back to normal, cementing Fred's belief that Riley had been lying to them.

Behind him, he heard the approaching footfalls and heartbeats of two animals. They sounded large, he wasn't sure exactly what they were. He smirked- he hadn't come across anything that could hurt him before now. They stopped, and fear froze him. He heard the quiet but unmistakeable approach of one of his own kind. Quickly, he hid behind his power and spun around.

The yellow eyes were the first things he noticed- this was one of the Cullens. He looked around for his best escape route, then the Cullen spoke.

"Hello, Fred." Fred looked back at him, shocked to see that he was staring right back. He turned up the volume (as he liked to refer to it) on his power, but to no avail. The Cullen smiled warmly, making Fred wary. "My name is Edward, yes, Cullen. You were a friend of Bree's?" Fred's eyes tightened. He switched off his power- it was clearly useless, anyway- but said nothing. Edward paused, clearly waiting for Fred's response. Mentioning Bree sounded like one of their mind tricks. He waited, seeing if this Cullen would attack. Nothing happened. Curiosity got the better of him.

"Where is she?" Edward looked sadly at the small patch of burned grass not too far from the other, much larger one. The Bree-sized patch. Fred felt angry, intensely. The Cullens killed her. Edward looked up sharply.

"We did not harm her. The Volturi came and killed her. She surrendered but they show no mercy." Fred remembered them. He'd come across them in Texas. One vampire tried to create and army as Riley had, and they had killed everyone who had associated with him. He deliberated, unsure as to whether to believe this Edward. On the one hand, these so-called "special powers" the Cullens had were clearly true- this one must be the mind-reader, but on the other, everything else Riley had said about them appeared to be false...so should he trust them?

In his short existence as a vampire he had not met a single one he could trust. Why should these be any different?

* * *

In the woods behind Edward, Jacob and Leah stood still, bored. Alice had a vision that this leech (Frank? Franz? They all had stupid names, anyway) was coming to look around. Edward recognised him from somewhere else and wanted to come talk to him. They thought he'd be intimidated by more than one vampire, and wouldn't be suspicious of passing animals, so Jacob offered to come (in the fervent hope things would go south and he could save Edward's ass in some suitably heroic manner). Leah didn't want to miss out on the fun, and wanted to get away from multiple vampire stink.

_'So...'_ thought Jacob, thoroughly bored.

_'Shut up, jackass. I was enjoying the silence your brainlessness brings.'_

_'Jeez, I was just trying to make conversation, Leah. No need to bite my head off. You can't tell me you're not bored, anyway.' _Leah didn't respond. Her silence, coupled with that annoying wolf telepathy told him he was right. _'Wanna take a closer look? See if we can eavesdrop?'_

Deciding that was more fun than just standing there, they carefully tiptoed towards what was once the battlefield. Jacob stopped a safe distance away, but Leah kept going. Something told her she had to go to the field. Behind her, Jacob didn't want to move, but needed to stop her.

_'Leah!'_ She heard he was about to give a command, so she phased. She dressed as quickly as she could, fumbling with the button on her shorts. She was nervous, but a weird kind of nervous- not frightened, somehow. Jake was about to phase behind her, so she ran.

* * *

Fred heard the commotion behind Edward. Clearly surprised at the least, Edward turned his head slightly, but stood his ground. Not sure what he was expecting, Fred was shocked to see a girl emerge from the trees. She'd glanced at Edward, and then looked directly into Fred's unexpected face.

Edward heard what was going on in both heads simultaneously, and couldn't believe it was happening. He heard confusion, a little apprehension and a tinge of desire from Fred, but Leah...

He'd always wanted to see it happen. It was something he never understood, not even having seen the memories. He'd even persuaded Jasper to try and explain the emotions Sam and Emily felt for each other- but again, it made no sense.

It was like Leah's head was a jigsaw puzzle that made up the full picture, and before now, she'd always seen it as complete. Then she saw Fred, and she realised that the picture had a large part she'd never noticed before- it had been missing her whole life and she'd never known. Then Fred clicked it into place for her.

A third set of thoughts joined theirs, cursing Leah's idiocy loudly and rudely while he yanked on his shorts. Fred had unconsciously started slowly stepping towards Leah, not understanding why he wanted to go to her, just knowing that he did. He froze on Jacob's approach, fear running through him, but not fear for his life...another kind of fear. He tried to put his finger on it as he watched the other one come into the field, clealy annoyed. The other one went over to the girl and grabbed her arm, and anger shot through him.

Then he knew what that fear had been for. Fear that this other one was with the girl. Fred glared at him.

Leah started when Jacob grabbed her arm and pulled her around. Looking at his irritated face, she realised what had happened. With one last look back at the other vampire, she turned and phased, not even waiting until she'd hit the privacy of the trees, not bothered about her clothes tearing. Surprised, Jacob turned to Edward.

"What the hell was that about?" Edward smiled.

"You're going to have to explain it to Fred, I don't think I can." Jacob got more annoyed. Edward always did this- expected him to know stuff when he'd just told him he didn't. Edward laughed softly, and looked meaningfully at Jacob.

"Seriously, we could be here all day." Jacob glanced warily at Fred, thinking he could be dangerous.

"You're going to have to explain to Fred about imprinting."


	3. Already Gone

"So...the girl from the field-" Fred was piecing this new information together, slowly but surely.

"Leah, yes," Edward encouraged.

"Leah, right- she can turn into a wolf whenever she wants?"

"That's right, yes," he replied patiently. They'd been going round in circles having the same conversation over and over while Fred tried to get his head around it. Jacob had given up the ghost early on and gone looking for Leah- who knows what she'd do?

"And one of the things about her being a wolf is this imprinting lark?" Edward nodded in response. "And she's...imprinted-" he said that word delicately- "on me?"

"Right again." Even Edward was beginning to lose patience with Fred. He understood that it was a lot to take in at once, but this was getting ridiculous.

"Meaning...she's in love with me, and I'm meant to love her back?"

"You're not _meant_ to, it's just that she's exactly right for you. She's everything you'll ever need. Whilst you still have a choice, there's no reason for you to choose otherwise. It'll be like she's made for you, you're two halves of a whole, if that makes sense." They had reached the end of the circle. Rather than waiting for the conversation to start all over again, Edward said "I'll leave you to think about it."

* * *

Jacob walked slowly up behind Leah. She turned her head slightly to show she'd noticed his arrival, but didn't say anything. She'd sat on the edge of the cliff usually reserved for cliff divers, looking out over the sea at the setting sun. Jacob cautiously sat down beside her. They sat in silence for a long while, Jacob waiting for the explosion of anger from her. She stared into the distance, her face smooth and expressionless. Eventually, Jacob broke the silence.

"So we're just not going to talk about you imprinting on a-"

"SHH!" Leah interrupted, "Don't say it out loud, OK? And no, we are not going to talk about it. Because it didn't happen."

Jacob was confused by this. "But...Edward said...he heard-"

"Well, he was wrong. How would he know, anyway? He's not even one of us!"

"I know that but-"

"Jake, LEAVE ME ALONE!" Jacob was taken aback by the pain he heard in her voice as she said this. He'd never seen Leah like this before, not in person. He'd seen it in Sam's head, but that was different. Wordlessly, he got up and walked into the forest. He chose not to phase in case she needed to be alone.

Once Jacob was definitely gone, Leah let the tears come.

* * *

A few hours and a good run through the forsest later, Leah was feeling better. She'd finally come to terms with what had happened- not that she particularly liked it or planned on accepting it- and was ready to face it head on. She arrived at the Cullen house, feeling just as awkward being there as usual, and knocked. As she waited, she felt suddenly glad that she was on better terms with the Cullens- after Renesmee was born and all those other vampires had left, she'd found her own little slice of happiness as Jake's beta. Things had been good, and she didn't want that to change. She would confront this other vampire and tell him to take a hike.

Eventually, Esme came to the door. Leah liked her- it was impossible not to- and was glad it was she that answered. As she went past, she stopped. Turning quickly to Esme, she put her arms around her. Surprised, but pleased, Esme returned the hug.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Esme asked, worried. The wolves had become a permanent feature in their house, and Esme relished in their company- she'd discovered a love of cooking. She loved each and every one of them, too, and was now concerned that Leah would leave Jacob's pack for Sam's. Leah frowned, and leant in again. Esme looked puzzled.

Shocked, Leah tried to word what was going on.

"You...don't...you-" Esme stroked her hair, waiting for Leah to get the words out. "You smell different." Esme froze, then leant in to Leah.

"You smell the same to me, honey."

"You...you smell nice." Esme and Leah stared at each other in shock. Leah started to babble, confused. "You smell like...like roses and juniper berries and the air after a storm, but you're not meant to, I don't understand..." she trailed off as Edward joined them, having read Esme's thoughts. Leah went straight over to him and sniffed his jacket, not even taking the time to feel foolish. "Why don't you smell bad?"

"Thanks, Leah, you really know how to make people feel welcomed. Sorry I don't stink." Edward replied, though it was clear he was joking. "I should imagine this is a side-effect of the imprint, you couldn't be around Fred if he smelled repulsive to you. Surely it's a good thing?"

"Ugh! Leave me alone! Where's this Fred so I can tell him to get lost?" Edward looked down, but didn't respond. Esme came up behind her and put her hands on Leah's shoulders.

"We're sorry, honey. He said he wanted to think outside, so he went..." Esme trailed off and looked at Edward expectantly. He sighed.

"When he left...I heard his thoughts. He's not coming back, Leah. Ever."

Leah heard the words he said, but couldn't process them. She couldn't imagine a future without Fred, nothing made sense without him, she knew that now. Why did it take him leaving to make her realise this?

She tried to speak, to ask where he was going, to ask what it was about her that wasn't good enough, but failed. Her eyes filled with tears for the second time that day, and she didn't guard against them falling. For once in her life, she decided it was OK to be vulnerable.


	4. Smile

Fred was running as fast as he could, trying to get away. He wasn't really thinking about where he was going, or what he was running from, but it was too much for him to deal with. He kept thinking in the back of his head that the further away he got, the more it wanted to pull him back, but he couldn't believe that was true. He'd either gone insane or was imagining it. Yes, he was definitely imagining things, he thought, as he looked at a tree he could swear he'd passed five minutes before.

* * *

Leah was sat on the Cullens' sofa, clinging to Esme's hands, still crying her heart out. They'd fetched Seth, wondering if that would help, but she'd screamed that she didn't want to see her family. Edward heard her think that she didn't want them to see her like that over a guy ever again- they'd been through it once with Sam. Leah was being particularly hostile to those whose DNA contained y-chromosomes (she'd actually broken Jacob's jaw), so Edward left her with Esme and Rosalie and went to Seth.

He was sat on the porch swing, distraught. Once again his sister's feelings had been crushed, and once again he knew there was nothing he could do or say to make it better. Edward came to sit next to him. Seth automatically relayed images of Leah from last time. Edward cringed, truly pitying Leah. It made him wonder how Sam could have done that to her, hearing as he did that Sam still loved Leah...it just wasn't enough. He was turning to Seth to ask, then thought better of it. It was rude to pry in things that weren't his business. Seth had seen him move.

"You were going to ask what happened last time?"

"Yeah, but...it's nothing to do with me. Anyway, it can't be as bad as..." he trailed off, looking over his shoulder. Leah's head was buried in Esme's neck, her sobs were shaking the frame of the settee. Surprisingly, Roaslie looked concerned, her hand on Leah's back, stroking her gently. Edward turned back around. Must be a female thing.

Seth paused, considering this. After a while, he started slowly. "I guess...to understand how she feels now, when it's a thousand times stronger, you have to understand how it felt when Sam and Emily betrayed her. I know, it wasn't like that," he said, as Edward was about to interject, "but that was how it felt at the time. Sam was bound by the treaty not to tell Leah about his change, and it nearly killed him. Then when Emily came down..."

* * *

_Leah was practically bouncing on her heels in the airport, craning her neck over the other passengers, trying to see Emily over them. She couldn't wait to see her, it'd been too long. She felt guilty, her parents were always on at her about neglecting her brother, but there were things she couldn't talk to him about- boys, for one. She and Sam had been having problems, and she needed to vent. She _could_ talk to her mum about it, but she didn't need mumsy advice, she needed someone to help her hurl insults at him, someone to cry on the shoulder of who wouldn't constantly then ask her about it later. She just needed someone to listen. The worst part was her father- for some reason he seemed to think that everything Sam was doing was excusable, and she should give him space. Her mum was being almost as bad, saying 'give him time'. She knew what she wanted to give him, but time was certainly not it._

_She finally caught sight of Emily, and ran forward. Emily saw her too and dropped her suitcase to jump on Leah. They spun around, squealing like groupies at a concert, really ecstatic. Leah was just so happy she came- she needed Emily more than she ever had, and, as always, Emily had come through for her. She put her down to look at her, beaming._

_"Jeez, what the hell have you been eating? When did you go on a growth spurt?" asked Emily, incredulous. Leah laughed._

_"Yeah, I'm over 6 feet now. I'm finally taller than you!" Emily laughed, then her face fell dramatically._

_"Do NOT tell me that Seth has grown, too. If he has, lie and keep him out of my way." Leah looked guilty and bit her lip. "Whaaaaat? No fair! I'm actually the smallest in the family? Ugh. You have all the luck!"_

_Leah looked pained all of a sudden. "I really don't, you know." Emily looked sad, feeling Leah's pain._

_"Let's get you home and we'll talk about it."_

_

* * *

_

_The two of them were sat on Leah's bed, each with a blanket around their shoulders, a tub of ice-cream between them, and a pile of DVDs in the corner. They'd pulled out the set of "men really suck" films they'd selected when Emily's boyfriend had been being an asshole. Leah was poking at the chocolate polar bears in the ice-cream._

_"I don't know what to do anymore, Em. I tried talking to him about it and all he said was he's fine, when he clearly isn't. Is it me? Am I missing something here?"_

_"No, honey, you're not. He's just a jerk, and he clearly doesn't deserve you if he doesn't trust or respect you enough to tell you what's up with him, even when he can see it's hurting you. Men!" she scoffed._

_"Who needs 'em?" They laughed together. Leah looked up with a half-smile on her face. "Thanks, Emily."_

_"Oh, don't even-"_

_"No," Leah interrupted, "I mean it. I've been getting no support here- well, I guess Seth would if I told him, but he's young and probably wouldn't really get it- but seriously my parents are going on about some 'change' he must be going through and I should be understanding. At first it made sense but now it's just...ugh!"_

_"Oh my God are you serious? I can't believe that! How could they do that to you? They need to support _you_ right now!" Leah moved the ice-cream onto her bedside table and reached out to Emily for a hug._

_

* * *

_

_"Leah, would you just listen-" Leah hung up the phone. She was sick of hearing Sam's crap._

_She and Emily were sat in the living room, holding hands. Emily had been telling Leah to stand up to Sam, tell him enough was enough, and she'd finally done it. Heartbroken though she felt, she hoped Sam would be shocked into coming around._

_Suddenly, there was a banging at the door, accompanied by shouting. Embarrassed, Leah went to get the door. Hearing it was Sam, Emily went to stop her._

_"Look, I know you wanna yell at him right now, or slap him, but is your front porch the right place for a scene? You both need time apart to calm down so you can talk rationally about this. I'll go." After a second, Leah just nodded and went to sit back down._

_Emily wrenched open the door, more furious than she let on._

_"Listen!" she shouted, surprised when Sam stopped yelling to stare blankly at her. "Leah doesn't want to talk to you right now. Frankly, you don't have any right to see her with the way you've been acting." Emily was proud of herself, Sam still hadn't responded. That must mean she was getting through to him. "You should leave, now. Come back when you've grown up." Emily went to slam the door in his face, smugly satisfied, but he put his hand out to stop her. "Let go of the door or I'm calling the cops!"_

_Sam stepped inside, his face still bemused. Emily was really frightened, her heart was pounding nervously. What was he going to do?_

_Hearing the commotion, Leah went to see what was going on. She walked in to see Sam advancing on Emily, then he put his arms around her and kissed her._

_Emily shoved at him with all her strength, finally getting through to him by raising her knee. Furious, she and Leah dragged him out of the house and locked the doors. Still in shock, they locked all the windows, drew all the curtains, and went upstairs to hide in Leah's room. Once they were there, Leah threw herself into Emily's arms and cried._

_Emily stroked her hair, feeling deep sympathy. Her boyfriend had cheated on her, too. But this time, Emily was not a willing participant, this was different._

_So why couldn't she get Sam's lips out of her mind?_

_

* * *

_

_Leah awoke the next morning, surprised to find herself alone. She looked around, then saw a handwritten note from Emily._

Aunt Sue wanted to "talk to me alone". Probably wants to know what happened yesterday in more detail. Be back soon (I hope). Em xxx

_Leah rolled her eyes. Her mother could be such a busybody sometimes, always wanting to know everybody's secrets. She'd probably wheedled some ancient tribe knowledge she shouldn't know out of Leah's dad, too. Not that any "tribe knowledge" meant anything anyway. She snorted. Vampires and werewolves indeed. Those elders needed to stop taking their crazy pills._

_

* * *

_

_Emily stood in the forest, facing her aunt and uncle, Billy Black and a sheepish-looking Sam. They'd just told her that Sam had "imprinted" on her, and this meant they were magically connected, because Sam was a werewolf. That's where he'd been running off to all the time, and why he was out late a lot. She stared at them, speechless, for another few seconds. They looked at her expectantly, clearly waiting for her to react. What, did they want her to fall into Sam's arms and stare wistfully into his eyes? Fat chance!_

_"That is the STUPIDEST thing I have EVER HEARD!" She turned to her aunt and uncle. "And you are prescribing to this nonsense?"_

_Harry stepped forward. "It is written in the history of our tribe. When vampires return-" Emily held up her hand to silence him._

_"If he-" she jerked her head towards Sam- "is really a werewolf, why can't he just turn into a wolf now? Or does he have to wait for the full moon?" Emily loaded that with as much sarcasm as possible._

_"It's not safe for such a young wolf-" Emily waved her arms, and he stopped talking. She then stormed forward to face her aunt._

_"I cannot BELIEVE you would do this to your daughter. It's...it's..." Emily searched around for the words. "Sick. That's what it is. Sick that you come up with this BULLSHIT, and cruel that you're doing this to Leah. You don't deserve her." She addressed that last part to Sam, too. When she looked at him, she felt...off. She couldn't explain it. It was most likely contempt, she told herself. Because she hated him. How could she not?_

_

* * *

_

_Emily was back in the airport sooner than she'd hoped. She was embracing Leah warmly, feeling awful about everything. Sue and Harry had sat Leah down and said that 'Sam was destined for another', but wouldn't say who. Emily held Leah when she cried again, trying to think of something to tell her...but couldn't._

_As luck would have it, Emily's brother broke his leg and her sister in law couldn't handle looking after her three kids _and_ him, so Emily agreed to go home and help. She was relieved to get away- she was getting sick of the strange looks from her aunt and uncle, and Sam, like they were anticipating her to change her mind and admit that it wasn't ludicrous. Well, they were going to be disappointed._

_As she was leaving, she told Leah she could come visit any time she wanted. If she wanted to come live with them, just to get away from the crazies, she was always welcome._

_Leah turned on her parents once Emily was definitely out of earshot._

_"I don't know what the hell you did, but I am _so mad_ with you! Whatever you said to Emily you've totally freaked her out! I know you believe in all these ancient stories, but it's the twenty-first century, for God's sake! You have to _let it go._" Leah stormed off, incandescent with rage._

_

* * *

_

_Emily practically ran into her house to call Leah. It was a really short flight and short drive home, but she wanted to check she was alright. Her parents were clearly clinically insane, her boyfriend was deluded, and they tried to include others in with it. Scary._

_She was dialling Leah's number into the handset when she saw something move outside the house. She froze, terrified for a second, then shook herself. It was probably a cat. She looked back at the phone, then saw it again. Setting it down, she went towards the window. Nothing._

_Intrigued, she went to the screen door and poked her head out. She heard nothing. Something inside her told her to take a closer look. Why she was doing it was beyond her, rational sense said to get inside and lock all the doors and windows, but it was like something was pulling her outside._

_She went into the bushes cautiously, looking around. There was nothing there, not even any paw prints. She straightened up, shaking herself. She was being silly now. It was Harry and Sue freaking her out, they'd actually made her paranoid. She sighed, laughing at herself. She turned to walk back into the house, and came face to face with Sam._

_Emily was about to scream, when he put his hand over her mouth. He pulled her deeper into the bushes, seemingly ignoring her kicking and flailing. 'This is it', she thought, 'they're going to sacrifice me or something. Or he's decided he's got some sort of claim over me...Oh, God.'_

_After about fifteen minutes, Sam came to a halt. He took his hand off her mouth, and she screamed and tried to run, so in a flash he was covering her mouth again._

_"Shhh! Look, I know what this looks like, but I need you to understand. We're meant to be. Can't you feel it?" He took the fact that she actually started fighting him harder as a 'no'. "I hate doing this to Leah, but-" Emily managed to break free. Instead of running, like she knew she should, she stayed to defend Leah._

_"If you hate it then _don't do it._ Not that I'm encouraging you to try and get her back, because you're not good enough for her. I wasn't sure at first, but now I know. You have treated her like crap- running off in the middle of the night, your temper being all over the place, and now _this_! You never deserved her. And you certainly can't have me either." Emily tried to push past, but Sam forced her back. She slapped him as hard as she could, and he started shaking._

_"Emily, get back!" Scoffing, she tried to make a break for it while he wasn't trying to get hold of her. She ran towards him this time, and drew level with him, when suddenly, he exploded- and pain flashed across her face. She fell backwards, cracking her head on a rock. As everything started going black, she saw a panicked looking, enormous wolf coming towards her..._

_

* * *

_

_Leah ran through the corridors of the hospital, much to the dismay of the staff. They tried to tell her to slow down, but she was already gone by the time they started to form the words. Finally finding the right ward, she raced down it and crashed into Emily's room._

_Emily was hooked up to a multitude of machines beeping away, asleep. One side of her face was covered in bandages, and both of her eyes were, too. Tears filling her eyes, Leah stepped forward. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement. Looking around, she saw Sam getting up from a chair. He started towards her, his hands outstretched. Leah bolted out of the room, walking quickly back down the corridor. She saw her parents coming down, and she ran to them._

_"We have to leave, we have to go now. We'll come back later. Or maybe we can call security or something-"_

_"What?" Her mum asked, confused. Leah got up close, and tried to be as quiet as she could._

_"It's Sam. He's followed me here. He knows I wasn't talking to him and I don't want to see him right now, I just want to make sure Emily's alright!" Her parents exchanged glances nervously. Leah looked confused, then became suspicious. Her father stepped forward, reaching a hand out to her shoulder._

_"Do you remember what we spoke about the other day? Saying that Sam was destined for another?" Leah nodded, remembering that seriously weird conversation. "Well, it appears that Sam was destined for Emily."_

_Leah stared blankly at them for a few seconds. She looked at her mother, waiting for the laughter to start. This was some hugely un-funny joke. Emily really didn't like Sam, Leah'd sensed that while they'd been together. Suddenly, Leah felt a hand on her shoulder. A blisteringly hot hand. She spun around to face Sam, suddenly terrified. He looked calm, but sad._

_"I'm so sorry that I'm doing this to you Leah. But Emily...Emily's _the one_, you know? The person I'm _meant_ to be with. I can feel it, right here," he punched his chest for emphasis, "and I know it's right. I don't want to do this to you, I still love you, I just know I've been made for Emily." Leah blinked. She considered shouting many things at him, most of them involving the words "corny bullshit", but nothing got her point across well enough. After floundering for a few seconds, she swung back her fist and slammed it at hard as she could against his face._

_

* * *

_

_The nurse finished bandaging Leah's hand up, trying to keep the smirk off her face. Red-faced, she avoided looking at Sam, who'd insisted on staying until he knew she was OK. The nurse had seen the entire conversation and was secretly wishing it was Sam she was meant to be helping, just so she could prod and poke him where it hurt. She went to get some more surgical tape, and barged him deliberately with her shoulder. Wincing, she realised she'd given herself a bruise. She looked at him while his back was to her, wondering if he was some kind of medical experiment and his bones were made of diamond or something._

_Sam kept trying to start conversations with her, to apologise, to grovel, but she wasn't having it. The second the nurse said she could go, she stormed out, heading up to Emily's room. They were going to have to talk._

_

* * *

_

_Emily was sat up, and her parents were helping her drink through a straw. She was clearly disconcerted by not being able to see. Seeing Leah come in, Harry and Sue got a hold of Emily's parents and ushered them out. They closed the door._

_"Hello?" Emily called, "Who's there?" Leah moved closer to the bed, and sat in a chair close by. She didn't say anything. She had no idea where to start. "Leah?" Emily's voice shook. She was clearly afraid- afraid of Leah's reaction, perhaps. Sighing, Leah responded._

_"Yeah, it's me."_

_"Is it just you? Please tell me it's just you!" Emily was terrified._

_Confused, Leah looked around. "Yeah, it's just me. Em, what's wrong?"_

_Emily reached out blindly for Leah's hand. Getting hold of her, she pulled her closer. She leant right forward and whispered, "It's Sam. He's in here all the time and...Leah I'm so afraid!" Leah felt guilty, then. Clearly Emily had nothing to do with this delusion._

_"Hey, it's OK. He's gone now. I doubt he'll be in here while I am, anyway." Leah laughed a little, then took Emily's hand and stroked it over the bandages on her right wrist._

_"Leah what did you _do_?"_

_"I punched him!" Leah was surprisingly proud of herself, despite how little damage she'd caused on his face. Emily laughed._

_"Why?" Leah paused. She'd been hoping to avoid this conversation. "He said something about me, didn't he?"_

_"Yeah," said Leah, in a small voice, "he said...you were _the one_._ _You know, his 'someone just for him'. He said he felt bad about doing that to me but it was how it was." Emily was silent for a few seconds, then put her hands over her bandages and started to cry. Leah stared, confused._

_"He's really freaking me out, Leah! Him and your parents were on about destiny or some shit like that, like they expect me to just go to him! I don't want to, and then he-" she cut off, choking on her sobs. She tried to carry on but nothing she said made sense through the tears. Leah stood up, leant over the bed and held her._

_"It's OK Em, I'm here. I'll protect you from the weirdos. They've taken it too far, now. I won't leave you alone here."_

_

* * *

_

_Leah stayed true to her word- she only left Emily to go home and sleep. Emily's parents were supportive, too, and would stop Sam from coming in to see her. He kicked up a fuss, but there was nothing he could do. When the bandages came off, he managed to sneak in and saw the damage to her face. He ran out, and didn't return for several days. At first, Emily thought he might have given up, or perhaps was now repulsed by her appearance. She felt...sad without him nearby. While he'd completely freaked her out, it meant that at least part of what they'd told her was true. The least believable part, too. What did this mean about the other?_

_She tried not to dwell on it too much. Leah was much more important, anyway. She could never do anything with Sam._

_Leah arrived one morning while Emily was still asleep to find her bed covered in flowers. They were clearly all wildflowers, and each one looked different from all the others. She decided to check with reception to see who they'd let up to do that- visiting hours had only just started. She was furious._

_Leah's storming out woke Emily up. She looked at the flowers, confused. Why would Leah do that? Sitting up, she caught sight of something small and brown at the bottom of the bed. Looking around, she went to pick it up._

_It was a small, wooden wolf. Seeing it seemed to hit home that Sam and Harry and Sue had been telling the truth the whole time, everything they'd said was right, she _was_ meant for Sam, he _was_ really a werewolf. She opened the drawer she had next to her and shoved it inside. It didn't change anything. Destiny or not, she was _never_ going to be with Sam. Not ever._

_

* * *

_

_After a week or so, Emily was finally allowed to go home, bandage and infection free. She sent Leah back home- much as she wanted her to stay, Leah needed to go back to school._

_Sam stayed around, though. He would arrive late at night, always with a new punch of wildflowers for her. Every time he came over, he confused her more. She knew that she needed to be with him, that her life wouldn't work without him in it, but she fought it. Sam begged her to reconsider, but she remained stubborn. His visits soon became nightly, and they got longer and longer each time. Both of them felt guilty every time, feeling that they were betraying Leah, but Emily reassured both Sam and herself by pointing out that they hadn't done anything. All they did was talk. Still, neither of them told Leah._

_One night, Sam took the conversation in a direction Emily wasn't expecting._

_"I'm going to ask you something, and I need you to be honest with me." He paused, waiting for agreement from Emily. Confused, she nodded. He took a deep breath in, stalling. "Is the reason you don't want to be with me..._not_ Leah. Like...is it because of what I did..." he gently stroked the angry cuts on her face, his expression full of regret._

_Emily gasped, shocked. She had no idea that he would think of it like that. "Of course it isn't! That was an accident, I know that, and so do you!"_

_"I shouldn't have lost my temper though, I should have controlled myself better, or I could have moved, run away-" Emily moved over and put her arms around him._

_"It's OK! There's nothing you could have done to prevent it, so you have to let it _go_. There's no use dwelling on what can't be undone." He looked up at her, then moved to kiss her. After a second of considering, she let him._

_

* * *

_

_Leah let the phone ring through to answerphone again, then rung off. She was getting really concerned now- Emily hadn't answered her phone in three days. She sent her a quick text asking her to call, knowing it wasn't likely she'd get a response. Maybe she got sick again and had to go back to hospital._

_Leah decided to call the house, hoping someone would be able to give her an answer. She went downstairs and dialled the familiar number, twirling and un-twirling her fingers in the cord._

_"Hello?" It was Emily's sister Jenny that answered._

_"Jen, it's Leah, is Emily in?" Jenny laughed._

_"Oh yeah, she's in."_

_"Can I talk to her please?" Jenny laughed again._

_"She's...a little busy right now," Jenny laughed, then whispered, "she has a guy over." This explained it._

_"Oh, right, that makes sense. Could you ask her to call me back?"_

_"Sure, I'll tell her when she's less...preoccupied..." Jenny trailed off, laughing again. "See you later, Leah. Hey- don't be a stranger!"_

_"Alright, bye!" Leah was satisfied with this. Emily had been talking about a guy before...Mark, was it? He'd come to visit her in the hospital a few times. Maybe he was the one who left all the flowers. Happier, she went out for a walk._

_

* * *

_

_Sam could see Leah perched on a driftwood log on the beach, staring blankly into space. He steeled himself, knowing how difficult this was going to be. Emily walked up beside him, and took his hand. She grimaced._

_"Let's get this over with, yeah?" Sam had to pull Emily along. She dropped his hand, wanting to break it to Leah slowly._

_Leah heard their approach, and looked up. Contempt filled her eyes when she saw Sam, but vanished when she saw Emily. She smiled widely, jumped up and started going over to her, then her face fell when she noted her proximity to Sam. Emily smiled sadly, knowing that Leah was putting it all together as she watched them. Leah took a step back, gasping._

_"No. No. You can't...no!" she shouted the last part. Emily reached her hands out towards her, but Leah started pacing backwards._

_"Leah, please just listen-"_

_"To what? What can you possibly have to say to me that I want to hear?" Emily and Sam stopped, then looked at each other. She was right, of course, except that there wasn't a lot of choice in it for either of them. Unfortunately, they couldn't tell her anything about imprinting. So what could they say? Sam stepped forward._

_"We're in love, Leah. Would you really want to come between us, knowing that?" Leah was silent for a second. Emily stepped forward, desperate for Leah to understand._

_"I'm sorry, Leah, I'm so sorry, I don't know what we can ever do to make it up to you-"_

_"Make it up? You can't _make it up_ to me! You've stabbed me in the back, both of you!" She turned to Emily. "So this is it, then? You're picking him over me. You don't even fucking know him!"_

_"Leah, please-"_

_"No. I'm done, I'm just done, I'm so over with this crap." She stomped over to Emily, and slapped her. "You're dead to me," she spat, storming off down the beach._

_Emily collapsed to the floor, bursting into tears. Sam put his arms around her._

_"She just needs time to get used to it. It's OK, she'll come around, I'm sure of it. It's OK." He stroked her hair carefully, doubting his own words._

_

* * *

_

_Sue and Harry were standing outside Leah's room while Seth watched from where he was hidden. He'd crawled into an empty cupboard while his parents weren't looking. He could hear screeching sobs, coupled with banging, ripping and general noises of violence. Every time they tried to open the door, she'd scream at them to get lost, then cry hysterically. They kept trying to give her food but she'd throw whatever it was out of the door. After the third smashed plate, they gave up._

_Seth laid awake for three nights hearing her crying- it was relentless. He tried to go in to help her, but she'd slam the door in his face, too. When Emily came over, it was worse. Leah screamed that she never wanted to see her again, she didn't care if Emily dropped dead. She amended and said she'd rather she were dead. Emily's heart broke visibly, and she cried almost as much as Leah._

_A week later, they called a doctor to come and see her. They were worried she hadn't eaten, and thought she might need counselling. She let the doctor in, which surprised them all. Sue and Harry followed, and Seth poked his head around the door, trying not to be seen._

_There was a pile of broken things in the middle of the floor. Seth could see gifts that Sam had given her, photo frames smashed and DVDs destroyed. There were torn up photographs too, most likely the ones of Emily and Sam._

_Leah was curled up on her bed, looking gaunt and fragile. Her eyes were bloodshot and her nose looked sore. There were hundreds of tissues all over the bed, then Seth noticed at the same time the doctor did the small cuts on her hands. They looked infected. The doctor looked at her parents for an explanation. Leah scoffed._

_"The picture wouldn't come out of the frame." The doctor gestured to Harry and Sue that they should come outside. Seth bolted, and managed to get into his cupboard before they saw him._

_"You were right to call me, Mr and Mrs Clearwater. This is bad- the worst I've seen it. I think she needs to come in for a few days so we can be sure she eats, and at this moment in time she appears to be a danger to herself. We'll keep her under observation and call you when to come and get her, OK?" Seth's parents just nodded._

_When the men from the hospital arrived to take her away, she went surprisingly peacefully. She didn't respond when her mother stroked her hair, or when Seth said goodbye. She just trudged weakly to the door and got in the car._

_

* * *

_

_About three weeks later, Seth was excited to find out Leah was coming home. The doctor had called and said she was ready, though she was to be under house arrest and have two sessions a week with a counsellor until they deemed her fit to take care of herself. Seth was at the window waiting to see her arrive for two hours. When a car pulled up, he raced out the door._

_Harry was helping Leah get out of the car. Seth bounced impatiently until she was clear of the car, then threw his arms around her._

_"Leah! I'm so glad you're home! I missed you," he said sadly, looking up into her blank face. She didn't respond, and she didn't return the hug. Seth's excitement faded and his face fell. He looked at her carefully. Her face seemed harder, colder. Bitter. This wasn't the same Leah from a month or so ago. His sister was a warm, kind person. She was generous, thoughtful, compassionate...not _this_ girl. He didn't know who she was. He realised sadly that his sister had gone. She'd been replaced by this hard, cold, miserable shell._

_

* * *

_

Edward was silent for five full minutes, processing everything Seth had showed him. Eventually, Seth broke the silence.

"She was so unhappy after that. When we phased, I thought it might make it better, especially now she understood about imprinting, that it wasn't Sam or Emily's choice. But it kinda intensified the bitterness. I guess it just made it worse- like she didn't understand why it was Emily and not her. She was better recently, but..." he trailed off, looking over his shoulder again sadly.

"I never knew Leah changed so much. I just assumed that only the bitterness was new...and I didn't know she and Emily were so close." Seth grimaced.

"Leah reminded Sam of that all the time. And she'd remember all the times he told her he loved her, and when he promised he'd never leave. I think she wanted him to feel even a little of what she felt. She got hurt, sure, but she really made Sam pay for it. She doesn't even acknowledge Emily." Edward was silent again. Suddenly, he stood up, business-like.

"That is not going to happen again." Seth looked confused.

"It's a little late-"

"No," said Edward forcefully, "it's never too late. We can go find Fred, and bring him back here. Leah is never going to go through that ever again, not while there's something we can do about it. You coming?" He offered his hand out to Seth. Shaking it excitedly, Seth stood up too.

"Yeah I'm coming!" He looked over his shoulder at his still-distraught sister. _This time, I won't be watching helplessly. This time, I'm going to change it. For my sister. For Leah._


	5. She

Fred had managed to find his way back to the house he'd lived in with Riley and the other newborns. He decided to just completely forget about that nonsense with the Cullens and carry on with what he'd been doing before. He didn't need their help, he could sort Thody out on his own. As he walked towards the house, he started talking to himself. Mad though he thought it would seem, he'd been very lonely after leaving the newborns to their fate, and the sound of his own voice had often been his only company for months on end.

He scoffed. "_Imprinting_. What a ridiculous idea." He kicked a rock for emphasis. "Sounds like some kind of freaky sex thing to me..." He stuffed his hands in his pockets sullenly, moping. "Would've liked her if it wasn't for all that business." He thought about her, how he'd liked her when he first saw her. Whenever he thought of her, he felt an ache in his chest, like heartburn or something. Maybe vampires could get sick. He'd ask the Cullens, only...He shook his head. "Ridiculous!"

He stomped along for a while longer, occasionally kicking rocks against trees as if he was playing football. He had a dim memory of playing five-a-side...somewhere. It upset him that he remembered so little. What bothered him more, however, was that he was actually upset. He'd thought about seeking out any family he might have had, but it made no sense as he couldn't remember them at all. He had vague recollections of people who might have been friends, but nothing clear. It might actually be better to let them mourn the him that was. He should move on, too. Make new friends. Friends like Leah...

"Aaaaaand the ache is back. _Wonderful._" He wandered aimlessly along for a while longer, then grunted angrily. "Ugh! _Why_ did I go there?" He wondered that, genuinely struggling to remember. "Curiosity? Or was I lonely?" He couldn't remember feeling lonely before, but he felt it now, like his insides were a cold, empty chasm waiting to be filled. _'They _could_ be filled, you know',_ A voice in his head reminded him. _'She's waiting.'_

"Oh, awesome. Now, I talk to myself, _and_ I hear voices. She's sure going to want me now," he said as sarcastically as he could. A strange notion came to him. He might have been being sarcastic, but the idea that she wouldn't want him...bothered him. It bothered him a lot. It intensified the indeterminate ache in his chest until he thought he was being torn apart from the inside.

"Great! Now I'm sick, too. I'll _have_ to go back to the Cullens now," he said dejectedly, annoyed at how excited this made him. No, this didn't make him happy- he wanted the free clothes and the warm shower (not that he needed them, just the dirt built up after a while when you lived in the forest). And he needed help for Thody, it wasn't realistic that he could smuggle him out of the country on his own. And the head person was a doctor, he'd been wearing a white coat. He could tell him what was wrong with him. Yeah, so he needed to go back. He _had_ to. For his health.

"Just keep telling yourself that..."

* * *

Seth and Edward were standing outside the house Edward had seen in Bree's memory. They could tell Fred had just been there, but he'd left again soon after. His trail led back along an older one. About to follow it, Edward set off towards it, but Seth stopped him. He could hear movement inside the house. Seth ran into the trees to phase back to his human form, and Edward started towards the door.

They approached it warily, not sure what they were going to find. Edward got to the door, and was surprised to find it unlocked. Carefully, he pushed the door and let it swing open. He walked in slowly, looking around, not sure all of a sudden if others had lost heart during the fight and escaped- did Fred have friends? He'd not thought about any while he'd been in their company, but there again he'd been distracted...Edward smirked. He'd have to bring this up if he ever ran into Aro again: while it _was_ useful to know what others were thinking, people's thoughts could lie, and they had to specifically think of the information desired- Aro's power left nothing in doubt.

He heard Seth come in behind him. This room was empty, but clearly hadn't been so for long- there was a blanket on a sofa in front of the television to one side of the room. Edward went over and touched the top of the set- it was still warm. He touched the blanket- that was still warm, too. So, Fred had a human here. Edward turned to look at Seth, who'd just come to the same conclusion. They both looked around, wondering where they could have gone, looking at the various doors leading off, then suddenly they heard a crash coming from the basement. Both of them headed towards the door, but they then heard footsteps coming up the stairs and stopped moving.

The footsteps were uneven, like whoever it was had a limp, and they kept stopping, going back down a few steps, then clearly changing their mind again and coming up again. Eventually they got to the door, and paused for at least ten seconds, then they pushed the door open. It swung forwards slowly, creaking ominously.

The man standing there was the most dishevelled person Edward had seen in his abnormally long life. His hair was knotted around his head, filthy, and there was dirt visible on his skin and his clothes. He was clearly wearing prison uniform. Edward thought he looked strangely familiar. He'd wondered, as had Seth, whether Fred was using him to feed from, but having caught a glimpse of him he'd decided it was unlikely. Edward wondered who he was, concerned, while Seth pondered the same thing.

"Who're you?" asked the man groggily. He didn't look like he'd been eating or sleeping much. He gestured around himself vaguely, "This...er...place...is it yours?" Edward laughed gently.

"Er...no. It's not. I'm Edward, and this is Seth." Seth waved brightly, surprising the man in the doorway. "And you are...?"

"Never you mind!" said the man, suddenly angry. _Good, they don't recognise me. Let's keep it that way._ Edward thought they'd get the information a little faster if he frightened him with the mind-reading. If all else failed Seth could just phase.

"Why would we recognise you?" The man blinked in surprise. _How could he...but...what?_ In his head he remembered news stories, his face (albeit clean-shaven and coiffed) underneath headlines about the Seattle serial killer, and Edward understood.

He walked slowly towards the man accused of the most heinous crimes imaginable, the man he knew to be innocent. So _Fred_ must have been responsible for the break-out. Edward nearly laughed- the Cullens themselves had been considering breaking him out, although their plan involved massive sums of money changing hands rather than breaking through the security...but Fred's plan was considerably more effective.

"Jonathan?" Edward's hands were outstretched, hoping to show this man they meant no harm, "we're here to help you. Fred sent us." Thody blinked. This information was difficult to process.

"Fred...Fred sent you?" Thody's voice was softer, still wary, but wavering.

"Yes. We're going to get you a new identity, out of the country. We can set you up with-"

"What about my family?" Edward started. Family? He saw in his head images, his wife, his children- two sons and a daughter, mostly happy memories, the children running around, laughing, smiling...and Edward knew that this man's life was over. Fred rescued him from a miscarriage of justice just to take him out into a world without the people he loved.

"I...I'm sorry, Jonathan, but it's not possible to reunite you with them- the police will track where they go-"

"Then why did he get me out?" Thody exploded with rage and pain, "What was the point in taking me away from prison when I can never see my family?" Thody collapsed on the floor, sobbing. Seth and Edward exchanged a look, both of them understanding that there was nothing they could do for this man- not really. He would always be empty.

Eventually, Thody passed out. Seth had found food in the fridge and a note from Fred, so clearly food has been available, but Thody did not want to eat it. After much deliberation, they decided to leave a note for Fred and take Thody with them- at the very least they could set him up with a new life, a new start. It could never be enough, but it would be something.

* * *

Fred was stood on a busy Seattle street, thinking hard. He kept turning around, searching the shop fronts around him, thinking hard. He needed a present. A fucking good one, at that.

"What says 'sorry I was a douche and ran off but I'm still not convinced about this imprinting thing even if I think you're hot and I can't get you out of my head'?" He frowned in frustration. His eyes fell on a florist, and he felt his own eyebrows raising at the mere thought. Yeah, right, some carnations ought to do the trick. Sorted. A snarl grumbled in his chest- this was infuriating. Why did he even feel compelled to get her anything? He wasn't getting anything for the rest of them, and they would hopefully be the ones doing him the favour. _They_ were the ones he was going to see, not her. He wasn't going back for her.

He realised how strange it would look, showing up with a gift. He didn't even know her! He didn't know what she liked or wanted, or even needed- he'd not even actually _spoken_ to her, yet he felt obligated to get her something. Why?

Eventually he came to the conclusion he just wanted to make amends. If she believed this...intense love thing (he couldn't even bring himself to think the word), she'd be very upset that he left. Yeah, so he was saying sorry.

"Or," he chided himself, "maybe I could just say sorry in words..."

* * *

Jacob was in Emily's house for the first time in months. He was eating one of her enormous muffins without much enthusiasm for it, delicious though it was.

He was pissed off. He understood how much pain Leah was in (just the mere _thought_ of losing Renesmee was more than he could bear), but he couldn't help being furious with her. She'd broken his jaw, for one thing- both painful and embarrassing- and then there was the fact that her being miserable made everyone else miserable. And she'd formed this irritating alliance with Blondie, so he'd had twice the oestrogen to deal with, not that Blondie had any (and pointing this out to her had earned him his car being mangled).

Paul was wolfing down the muffins as if they were about to disappear if he didn't eat them all as fast as possible. Jared and Embry had better table manners, so there wasn't quite the shower of crumbs slowly threatening to engulf Paul's chair, but they were keeping pretty good pace with him. Jacob had hoped to find this comforting, this homecoming of sorts, but he found that their little idiosyncrasies were actually just annoying him. Esme wouldn't have allowed such appalling eating habits.

"Would you quit eating so fast? It's actually disgusting, I'm getting showered with your crumbs and spit."

"Well I'm sorry my dietary requirements don't meet your _high_ standards, you pansy!" Jacob gave him his best contemptuous look.

"I don't have high standards, you're just making me want to puke watching you. And it's not a _dietary requirement_ to inhale your food!" Paul laughed, and even Jared sniggered a little. Diligently, Embry bit back his smile as best he could.

"You're getting _way_ girly, man. Next thing you know you'll be wanting cutlery. Must be all that time you're spending with Leah- did she take you shopping for your training bra?" Jacob's fist his the table as he rose up to his full height, and he heard the wood splinter. Paul stood, too, probably itching for a fight, but at that point both Jared and Embry went over to calm them down. Embry pulled Jacob outside, thinking some fresh air might calm him down.

Once outside, they sat on the steps leading to Emily's decking. Jacob still glowered, a dark cloud hanging over his head. Eventually, Embry broke the silence.

"So, you want to talk about what's bothering you, or are you just going to sulk away on your own?" Jacob didn't respond. He just glared at a bush, looking as though he was wishing _it_ was the cause of his anger so he could destroy it.

After a while, he said slowly, "I'm not sure. I thought it was just Leah, at first, but I dunno...maybe it's that she imprinted on a _vampire_- I mean, trust Leah to make things difficult..." Embry looked puzzled.

"But...we hang around with the Cullens all the time, and you imprinted on Renesmee, what's the diff-"

"What's the _difference_?" Jacob was angry again- his temper hadn't been this volatile since he'd first learned he was a werewolf. "How can you _say_ that? Didn't you see his eyes?" Embry raised his eyebrows.

"I didn't see him at all, remember?"

"Oh." Jacob had forgotten that the wolf telepathy only worked when they were all phased. "Well, they were red. That means he drinks _human_ blood. He's not bound by the new treaty, and I doubt Sam will allow him to be in the area without retribution. Anyway, he's a _murderer_! Leah is actually with a serial killer!"

"_What_?" Jacob and Embry turned. Neither of them had heard the door open, but open it was- and Sam was framed within it, looking both shocked and incandescent in equal measure. Embry held up a hand to Jacob to indicate that he would explain (Jacob's temper could only make things worse), but Sam interjected- "No. I want to hear it from her _alpha_."

Jacob stood slowly, taking deep breaths to attempt to steady himself. He might have been angry at Leah, but he'd defend her to the last.

"That is for Leah to tell you. If she wants to, she will." Sam didn't look satisfied with this answer.

"You said something about her being with a vampire. That _is_ my business. We will not hold back if it strays into our territory." Jacob scowled.

"It might be the _pack's_ business, but it still isn't _yours_, Sam. You said _my_ business, not _our_- so come on. What's this really about? Want to string Leah along that little while longer? Do you enjoy making her suffer more-" Embry cut him off by standing in front of him.

"What the hell, man? You know Sam wouldn't do anything to hurt-"

"Oh really? Like trying to keep her around even when he knows he broke her heart?"

"He felt awful about-"

"Like not even trying to hide his relationship with Emily when Leah was around because that would be like rubbing it in?"

"He didn't do that on purp-"

"Like making Jared go beg her to come back because he just likes having her around?"

"He- wait, what?" Embry frowned, then turned around, and was confronted with the image of a stoic looking Sam, but behind him, a horrified Emily. Sam hadn't yet noticed.

"You...you..." Emily was trying to talk, her hand in front of her mouth and her eyes filled with tears. Sam's face broke as he turned around to look at her.

"It wasn't like that! I asked Jared to get her back so that-"

"You _asked_ Jared? You didn't _ask_ Jared anything, you _ordered_ him to go!" Jacob interrupted, bellowing. Embry stood looking from his alpha, to Sam, to Emily, torn as to where his ties lay. On the one hand, he couldn't betray his pack, so he must side with Jacob. On another, Jacob totally lost it with Sam, and possibly undeservedly so, and somebody needed to bring Jacob up on that. On yet another hand, (and he was over-subscribed as it was), all the yelling and fighting about Leah was going to kill Emily. Every time Leah blanked her or made some nasty comment directed at her, she didn't react on the face of it, and Sam tried so hard to keep it secret (but failed- and hated the wolf telepathy for it), she'd actually be broken a little more inside. Afterwards, Sam usually found her laying across their bed in tears.

"You _ordered_ him to go after Leah when you _knew_ how hard it was for her just to be around us? Why couldn't you just let her _be_, let her find her own happiness! She sure as hell made it clear she couldn't find it here!"

"I wanted Leah-" Sam took a breath, and lowered his voice so he wasn't shouting anymore, "I wanted Leah to come back because I was hoping she'd forgive us and you could go back to being friends. I was doing it for _you_." He looked pained, and Emily looked convinced, until Jacob snorted loudly.

"No he didn't! He wanted Leah around because he's still in love with her!" Jacob blurted out the secret they'd been ordered to keep from Emily, the one thing he'd sworn to keep to himself even after the order didn't hold with him. Even Leah didn't know, they'd been careful with their thoughts around her (mostly because Sam ordered them to at first, then it became out of kindness to Leah). His eyes widened when he realised his mistake, and he put his hand over his mouth, as if by doing so he could swallow the words back down. Everybody was staring at him, shocked. Embry kept opening his mouth as if he was about to speak, then closing it again. Sam looked pained, and was clearly thinking hard- most likely about what he should do next. Emily...Jacob couldn't look at Emily. Even if what he'd said was true, he was ashamed that she knew. Sam would never do anything to hurt her, and would never be leaving her for Leah, so there was no real reason for her to know- all it would do is cause pain. Jacob brought that pain.

Emily spoke first, much to everyone's surprise. Her voice broke in places, but she carried on regardless. "Yeah, well, I kinda knew that already. I'm not surprised, and I'm not angry at you Jacob for telling me. I'm not happy, sure, but I'm not angry. Sam?" She looked at him, but he didn't move an inch. "Don't be mad at him. He feels bad enough already." With that, she turned around and went back inside her house.

Sam stood in silence for five full minutes, still deciding. Jacob expected him to ignore what Emily had said and beat him six ways from Sunday, but he didn't. Jacob wished he _would_ ignore her and kick his ass- he knew he deserved it. Plus, it would take his mind off all the hurt he'd just caused. He was waiting, hoping for a decision from Sam- the not knowing was worse than whatever he could throw at him. Sam barely moved, no fidgeting, his face blank- leaving no indication of what he would do.

Jacob couldn't decide what to do. He wanted to explain himself, say something utterly brilliant that would make everything better, but he knew that it was too late.

Eventually, Sam turned around slowly and went back into the house.


	6. It's Lonely Where You Are

**In the immortal words of Monty Python: I'm not dead! I'm back for at least a chapter, and I've updated my other story _A Day of Sorrow is Longer than a Month of Joy_ as well. Hope this was worth the wait!**

* * *

Fred was in the trees, within sight of the Cullens' house, wondering how to go about this next part. Ideally, he'd walk in and Leah would be there, waiting, then swooning and fawning would follow; but somehow he thought that wasn't particularly likely. It was much more probable that she'd never want to speak to him again.

He paced back and forth, wondering. Dusk fell as he wandered, and it became increasingly clear that he wasn't going to come up with anything that was remotely good enough. He took a deep breath, and decided it would be better just to take the plunge and wing it.

* * *

Esme was stood in the doorway to what used to be Edward's room, watching Leah sleeping. She'd finally fallen asleep on the sofa downstairs, and although one of the other wolves said he had an urgent message for her, Esme had decided that it was better for now to leave her. She was in so much pain that waking her felt cruel. It was difficult to watch and know there was nothing she could do. Esme considered the wolves as part of her extended family, and she felt the pain just as much as any of them. It wasn't as clear cut as Jasper's talent, just a strong empathy she'd always had- even as a human. She leant her head against the door frame, sighing sadly. She decided to make some of Leah's favourite food. That had always seemed to help Bella while she was human. It certainly couldn't make it any worse.

She reached the bottom of the stairs and was about to head into the kitchen, when she became aware of an only vaguely familiar voice drifting from the living room. It sounded a lot like...but it couldn't be, could it? She flitted to the doorway and, sure enough, Fred was stood, head hung in shame, with Edward and Seth speaking to him. She started when she saw a dishevelled-looking human man curled up on the sofa. She was ecstatic. Fred had come back!

* * *

"We had explained it to you perfectly clearly. You knew that Leah was now bound to you for _the rest of her life_ and yet still, you left. What makes you think you deserve her back?" Edward was articulating Seth's thoughts better than Seth was able to himself.

"Well...I just...I-" Fred stopped. He hadn't expected the Spanish Inquisition. He laughed- why was that funny? He couldn't remember.

Edward bit back a smirk. At that moment, Esme entered the room; her happiness that Fred had returned was glowing.

"Fred, dear, it's so good to see you again! And who's our other guest?" They all turned to look at the man on the sofa, whose natural instincts told him to coil away from the stare of the predators. "Are you hungry?"

Thody didn't move. He had never seen a woman as beautiful as the elegant creature before him, and he sat dumbfounded in her presence. Edward scoffed, and made a note to himself never to allow Rosalie within his line of sight.

"He hasn't eaten in a while. Seth, why don't you take him to the kitchen and get him something to eat?"

"What?" Seth protested, "why can't I-"

"I can tell him what you'd like to say, it's alright." Seth saw himself defeated, and begrudgingly traipsed off to the kitchen with Thody and Esme. Edward looked back to Fred, whose thoughts were bent on when he could see Leah again. Edward sighed. Fred was now feeling the effects of the imprint, but couldn't understand them. He wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the box.

"I...I know I have no right to ask this, but...when can I see her again? I know it sounds insane but I _need_ to see her! Nothing matters if she's not there!" Edward raised his eyebrows. He'd never seen the effects of an imprint be this strong. It must have something to do with his being a vampire. Very star-cross'd lovers. He smiled to himself, and quoted:

"Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Forks where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break to new mutiny-" his face fell instantly. He hadn't been paying attention to anything around him, and suddenly everything had slotted into place. He turned slowly and saw Leah framed in the doorway, her face a mix of shock, pain and happiness.

* * *

Leah walked towards Fred slowly, almost as though she thought with each step he was more likely to disappear. Fred looked as though he couldn't believe his eyes. He daren't move for fear of scaring her off. She finally reached him, and put her hand on his face.

"It's really you," she said, still not sure if she was dreaming, "you're here."

"Yes," he said, "I came back for you. I'm so sorry, Leah, I should never have left! I should have believed everything they said!"

She smiled happily, her eyes shining, and then she slapped him. "What, and you think I'm just going to _forgive you?_ You just show up here with an 'I'm sorry' and expect me to just fall into your arms like nothing happened? What do you take me for? UGH!"

Fred felt like his still heart had been ripped out in that moment. After a few seconds of silence, he managed to voice the words: "so, does this mean you can never forgive me?"

"OF COURSE IT DOESN'T! But you're going to have to earn my trust back- and believe me, it's not going to be easy." Fred beamed.

"Anything."

At that point, Embry burst through the front door of the house, slamming it clean off its hinges.

"Leah!" Everybody turned to see Embry stood, panting.

"I'm _busy_-"

"No, Leah, listen. It's Emily. You need to come now."


End file.
